On Saturday, the doctors stopped the sedation and E.J. was "awakened,"
but she was insensate. Eyes had no focus, she did not respond to voices, lights on but no-one home. So I made the difficult decision to order her life-support -- ventilator and blood-pressure regulation -- removed. The staff maintained pain-killer and anxiety-relief drugs so she remained comfortable as she gradually declined, and finally passed at 11:35 Sunday night.

The great love of my life is gone forever. She is survived by her son, Ian, and stepson Zeke, who loved her very much, and those two will keep me going in the weeks and months ahead.

Thanks to all for your well-wishes and support. Zeke is finishing up this school semester and we will have a local memorial service for our friends in the area, and another one in Southern Cal for family and the friends in that area, and I'll keep everyone posted when plans are firmed up.

 

Dear Friends,

As most of you know, my wife, EJ, has spent most of this year battling lung cancer. She had responded well to treatment, and by the end of October, she seemed to have beaten it. But in the last few weeks she took a turn for the worse, and on Thanksgiving suffered a major stroke.
After recovering briefly on Friday she got much worse on Saturday and was transferred to Swedish Medical Center in Denver.

She has spent the past several days under heavy sedation as the doctors worked to find out the cause of the stroke. They quickly ruled out a blood clot, scans showed her blood vessels were inflamed and not getting her enough blood. Doctors performed an array of tests, ruling out various types of infections, until today, they performed a spinal-fluid tap and found cancer cells in her spinal fluid.

As sometimes happens with the kind of small-cell lung cancer afflicting EJ, the cancer had spread to her brain. The doctors tell me there is nothing they can do for her now, but keep her comfortable until she passes away, likely in the next few days. Her mother is flying in tomorrow to see her one last time, and my brother is flying up to help me deal with the situation.

I'll pass word along when she finally passes and what memorial arrangements need to be made. I'd appreciate it if those on you on this list could forward this news to other of our mutual friends in our various circles.


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-- Scott Bieser
Director, Big Head Press  www.bigheadpress.com My webcomic, QUANTUM VIBE: www.quantumvibe.com